I really, really enjoyed this documentary. This is a story about an artist who speaks out against the constricting nature of a country through means of art, and the outright use of the middle finger. Not only does this doc follow the career of a heavily influential artist, Ai Weiwei, it also focuses on the challenges of being an artist in a place where art has to meet certain criteria in order to be deemed acceptable. Never Sorry finds its strengths in exploring the work and mindset of Ai Weiwei, but falters when it begins to introduce odd elements of Ai Weiwei’s personal life that offer little to the whole of the film, or its artful context. In my opinion this is a solid documentary, which spends a little too much time on a single instance in the second act, and slightly veers off course of its central message with information that comes off as a bit too personal.

Beauty Is Embarrassing (2012) 2.5/4

Yes, another documentary about an artist. However, this film is very different from the previous. Beauty Is Embarrassing creates a strong first act that presents us with an always-creative artist named Wayne White. Whites unreserved nature is hilarious, and his artwork is no different. While the first act presents us with a loose- open direction that explores the work and history of White, the second act feels very different—seeming to only function as a behind the scenes look at Pee-wee’s Playhouse. These segments of “the playhouse” show a lot of the art that went into the production of the show it self but offer little more to the whole image of White. The audience is then given some indication that White was going through a very depressing time, however this information is glossed over, perhaps for the cheerful and opportunistic tone that the film is aiming for. All in all, The story here is mostly inspirational, and simply states: Do what you love, and have fun while doing it—yet the viewer never gets to see the hurdles that have to be overcome in order to achieve success.

_________________"I have now come to claim that satisfaction."

Fri Apr 12, 2013 1:47 pm

Syd Henderson

Director

Joined: Tue Jun 30, 2009 1:35 amPosts: 1727

Re: Last Movie You Watched

Love Me Tender: Famous for being Elvis's first film, and he's very green and some of the songs are worked in awkwardly, with futuristic moves and a pompadour. An exception is the title song, which is still beautiful and based on a Civil War ballad.

Those are the main flaws. Otherwise a pretty well-made drama about the days after the Civil War. Vance Reno's (Richard Egan's) troops raid a train station to steal a Union payroll, but when they try to deliver it to their general, they discover the war ended before their raid. Oops.

Vance reasons the money is now theirs, under prize law, and he and his troops divide it among them. Vance and his two brothers go home, where he hopes to find his love Cathy (Debra Paget), and discovers that Cathy's parents are dead and she's living with his mother and a fourth brother Clint (Elvis), who came of age during the War but never got to fight. Unfortunately for Vance, he has been reported dead, and Cathy and Clint are now married. Double oops.

Vance, and his other brothers, Brett and Ray, decide to hide their money for a later day when things have cooled down. Unfortunately, things have not cooled down: the Union does not have same idea of legality Vance has, and wants its money back. But the Reno brothers have only their shares, and the Union wants all of it back, at which point all will be forgiven.

So we have the romantic triangle from Hell, three former Confederates who want to give their money back, and the rest of the gang which totally misreads the situation, paving the way for a total clusterf*ck.

This was originally going to be a straight acting role for Elvis, and it would have been a considerably better movie if it was. (Or just have him sing "Love Me Tender.") As it is, I still rather like it and give it a 6.5.

_________________Evil does not wear a bonnet!--Mr. Tinkles

Fri Apr 12, 2013 11:30 pm

Syd Henderson

Director

Joined: Tue Jun 30, 2009 1:35 amPosts: 1727

Re: Last Movie You Watched

For a good example of how Hollywood treats history, check out the story of the Reno Gang, one of the first major outlaw gangs, whose actual story has no resemblance to the relatively sympathetic trio here. Well, Clint Reno did exist, and died in 1921 in an insane asylum. Several other Renos got lynched.

_________________Evil does not wear a bonnet!--Mr. Tinkles

Fri Apr 12, 2013 11:50 pm

Balaji Sivaraman

Second Unit Director

Joined: Sat Jul 16, 2011 4:22 amPosts: 382Location: Chennai, India

Re: Last Movie You Watched

The Place Beyond The Pines (2013) (Disclaimer: I've not yet seen Blue Valentine. Also MAJOR STORY SPOILERS follow.)

That was an interesting film, to say the least. Derek Cianfrance aims big and while he definitely falls short, I was riveted for large periods of TPBTP. My personal complaint is that I found the first portion of the film to be very slow moving. I was not particularly involved in Luke Glanton's predicament, and I was able to predict what would happen, especially towards the end of his storyline. Ryan Gosling didn't have a lot of time/character to strut out his stuff in what felt like an extension of his Drive character to me. I am not saying he wasn't good because he always is, just that he didn't have to exert himself for this film.

Avery Cross' (Bradley Cooper) storyline was easily the most gripping. (The manner in which the first storyline segues into the second is a particularly nice touch.) He begins as someone who has a strong moral stand on the things he sees around him but ends up being a really unlikable character, despite doing what seems to be the right thing. I was constantly unsure of what was going to happen next where Cross was concerned, and I think it is great when a film makes you feel that way. Unfortunately, whenever I see Bradley Cooper, I am always seeing Bradley Cooper. He does give a very good performance here, but it never transcends the line to greatness. He never stops being Bradley Cooper and becomes Avery Cross. That is a complaint I have with all his performances in general, unlike Ryan Gosling who always seamlessly blends in with his characters.

Contrary to popular opinion, I really liked the third portion of the film. It provided a strong sense of closure to the previous two threads, albeit somewhat predictably. When Jason Glanton (Dane DeHaan) had the gun pointed at Avery Cross' head, I doubted, just for a moment, whether he would pull the trigger. And I think Cianfrance's greatness lies in that he made me doubt the proceedings because of the way he had built up the story and characters up to that point. As an aside, Dane DeHaan has really impressed me in both Chronicle and this film. He seems to be one to watch out for in the future. And Emory Cohen's (DJ Cross) bad performance only stood out more because he shared a lot of the screen with Dane.

As for the final shot, when I saw it first, I got the feeling it was a bit corny, especially because the seller asks him if he had ever ridden a bike and he just drives away, giving the impression that it's in his blood. But when I thought about it further, the whole film is about father/son connections. Luke Glanton robs banks because he wants to be a make a connection with his son by turning provider. Avery Cross joins the police initially because he doesn't want to be constantly compared to his father (a former Supreme Court judge). But he ultimately ends up going to his father for counsel on how to get out of his impossible predicament. AJ Cross (Avery's son) goes to booze, has a party in his father's place, and does drugs as a form of revolt against his father. And finally, Jason Glanton buys himself a bike, because that is probably the only connection he is ever going to have to his father. When I looked at it that way, it struck me as a really poignant scene, and the perfect closure to the film.

_________________Balajithots - Last Updated 21-Jan - Frozen (2013)This list... is an absolute good. The list is life. All around its margins lies the gulf.

Sat Apr 13, 2013 10:32 am

Sexual Chocolate

Director

Joined: Sun Jun 20, 2010 4:04 pmPosts: 1754Location: New Hampshire

Re: Last Movie You Watched

Killing Them Softly

A mob movie, yes. People cross the wrong people. Skulls get cracked, people get whacked. But underneath it is a pretty effective exploration of the dog eat dog society that is America. Check it out.

_________________Death is pretty finalI'm collecting vinylI'm gonna DJ at the end of the world.

Sat Apr 13, 2013 9:37 pm

nitrium

Director

Joined: Sat Oct 13, 2012 2:42 pmPosts: 1282Location: New Zealand

Re: Last Movie You Watched

Savages

A welcome return of Oliver Stone. Plenty of brutal violence, hammy performances, and a story that didn't make a lot sense a lot of the time. But it was all still somehow fun, if 30 mins too long. 6.5/10.

It is 2018 and the Nazis who have been hiding on the dark side of the moon since 1945 have been discovered by an American PR mission to our natural satellite. Part spoof, part satire, part sci-fi action movie, this European production suffers from an identity crisis. Starts promising, but then continually misses target after target. Nifty special effects...but that's about it. 1.5 / 4.0

Sun Apr 14, 2013 12:34 am

JamesKunz

Critic

Joined: Wed Jul 29, 2009 9:35 amPosts: 6252Location: Easton, MD

Re: Last Movie You Watched

Johnny Larue wrote:

Iron Sky (2012)

It is 2018 and the Nazis who have been hiding on the dark side of the moon since 1945 have been discovered by an American PR mission to our natural satellite. Part spoof, part satire, part sci-fi action movie, this European production suffers from an identity crisis. Starts promising, but then continually misses target after target. Nifty special effects...but that's about it. 1.5 / 4.0

I didn't like this either. I guess when you let fans dictate what direction the movie goes in, you might get a disjointed production

_________________I'm lithe and fierce as a tiger

Sun Apr 14, 2013 9:44 am

Vexer

Auteur

Joined: Sun Oct 07, 2012 12:02 pmPosts: 3606Location: Zion, IL

Re: Last Movie You Watched

JamesKunz wrote:

Johnny Larue wrote:

Iron Sky (2012)

It is 2018 and the Nazis who have been hiding on the dark side of the moon since 1945 have been discovered by an American PR mission to our natural satellite. Part spoof, part satire, part sci-fi action movie, this European production suffers from an identity crisis. Starts promising, but then continually misses target after target. Nifty special effects...but that's about it. 1.5 / 4.0

I didn't like this either. I guess when you let fans dictate what direction the movie goes in, you might get a disjointed production

I thought it was a pretty decent film, i'm confused, how exactly did fans dictate what direction the film went in?

Sun Apr 14, 2013 12:55 pm

Ken

Director

Joined: Sun Oct 07, 2012 6:26 pmPosts: 1743

Re: Last Movie You Watched

American Graffiti

I caught this one theatrically. It's a strange one. There's much of it that you could almost watch out of order and come away with the same general impressions. (I had seen it prior a few times, but mostly piecemeal.) There is a story, or rather a collection of interwoven short stories, but it's better thought of as just what it is--an impression of what it was like to live at a certain age in a certain time and place. I'm glad somebody cared enough to make a movie about it, especially one this sincere and lavishly built.

Most movies, even great ones, are pretty much about their own plot. American Graffiti escapes that.

_________________The temptation is to like what you should like--not what you do like... another temptation is to come up with an interesting reason for liking it that may not actually be the reason you like it.

Sun Apr 14, 2013 1:44 pm

JamesKunz

Critic

Joined: Wed Jul 29, 2009 9:35 amPosts: 6252Location: Easton, MD

Re: Last Movie You Watched

Vexer wrote:

JamesKunz wrote:

Johnny Larue wrote:

Iron Sky (2012)

It is 2018 and the Nazis who have been hiding on the dark side of the moon since 1945 have been discovered by an American PR mission to our natural satellite. Part spoof, part satire, part sci-fi action movie, this European production suffers from an identity crisis. Starts promising, but then continually misses target after target. Nifty special effects...but that's about it. 1.5 / 4.0

I didn't like this either. I guess when you let fans dictate what direction the movie goes in, you might get a disjointed production

I thought it was a pretty decent film, i'm confused, how exactly did fans dictate what direction the film went in?

It is 2018 and the Nazis who have been hiding on the dark side of the moon since 1945 have been discovered by an American PR mission to our natural satellite. Part spoof, part satire, part sci-fi action movie, this European production suffers from an identity crisis. Starts promising, but then continually misses target after target. Nifty special effects...but that's about it. 1.5 / 4.0

I didn't like this either. I guess when you let fans dictate what direction the movie goes in, you might get a disjointed production

I thought it was a pretty decent film, i'm confused, how exactly did fans dictate what direction the film went in?

I just saw Iron Sky and I'm kinda with Vexer on this one. Granted, it's scattershot, it lurches along instead of gliding, at times the story makes no sense and that ending is utter BS, but I can say I wasn't bored and it looked nice. That and I laughed at times. What can I say, Nazi's from the Moon is a good idea and that's half the battle.

6/10

Sun Apr 14, 2013 3:05 pm

Unke

Second Unit Director

Joined: Mon Oct 08, 2012 1:45 pmPosts: 474

Re: Last Movie You Watched

Vexer wrote:

JamesKunz wrote:

Johnny Larue wrote:

Iron Sky (2012)

It is 2018 and the Nazis who have been hiding on the dark side of the moon since 1945 have been discovered by an American PR mission to our natural satellite. Part spoof, part satire, part sci-fi action movie, this European production suffers from an identity crisis. Starts promising, but then continually misses target after target. Nifty special effects...but that's about it. 1.5 / 4.0

I didn't like this either. I guess when you let fans dictate what direction the movie goes in, you might get a disjointed production

I thought it was a pretty decent film, i'm confused, how exactly did fans dictate what direction the film went in?

I'm not sure it's entirely fair to say that fans dictated the direction, in which the movie went, because it has been crowd-funded, but it's a one joke movie and not funny enough for its absurd premise.

Sun Apr 14, 2013 3:12 pm

Awf Hand

Second Unit Director

Joined: Tue Oct 09, 2012 10:26 amPosts: 256

Re: Last Movie You Watched

My oldest daughter is learning to play Minuet in G Major (Bach) and so I set out to find Electric Dreams (1984) a cute little film that is a bit of a hybrid between 2001 and "Cyrano De Bergerac" via Roxanne.Miles (Lenny Von Dohlen) is a dweeb architect and after purchasing a new-fangled computer promptly overloads it by uploading too much info and dumping champaign all over the motherboard. Through this the computer becomes sentient and begins to woo the upstaires neighbor and cellist, Madeline (Virginia Madsen) through music. The computer becomes increasingly hostile towards Miles, as Madeline is falling for him.While a bit dated, this is a cute film nonetheless, and represents a huge showcase for Giorgio Moroder, Jeff Lynne (ELO) and Culture Club music. My kids really enjoyed the music, which is every bit as much a character as the humans.

After we couldn't find the movie at our library or any local rental locations, we found it on YouTube. I'd recommend this movie for any child of the eighties.

-The irony of watching this movie on our computer was not lost on me.

_______________________________________________My milkshake bringeth all thee gentlefolk to mine yard. Verily, 'tis better than thine. I would instruct thee, but I must levy a fee.

Sun Apr 14, 2013 4:11 pm

JackBurns

Second Unit Director

Joined: Sat Sep 15, 2012 10:51 pmPosts: 346Location: Durham, NC

Re: Last Movie You Watched

Balaji Sivaraman wrote:

As for the final shot, when I saw it first, I got the feeling it was a bit corny, especially because the seller asks him if he had ever ridden a bike and he just drives away, giving the impression that it's in his blood. But when I thought about it further, the whole film is about father/son connections. Luke Glanton robs banks because he wants to be a make a connection with his son by turning provider. Avery Cross joins the police initially because he doesn't want to be constantly compared to his father (a former Supreme Court judge). But he ultimately ends up going to his father for counsel on how to get out of his impossible predicament. AJ Cross (Avery's son) goes to booze, has a party in his father's place, and does drugs as a form of revolt against his father. And finally, Jason Glanton buys himself a bike, because that is probably the only connection he is ever going to have to his father. When I looked at it that way, it struck me as a really poignant scene, and the perfect closure to the film.

I completely agree, and loved the ending for that matter. It has such a nice, cyclical feeling to it.

I caught this one theatrically. It's a strange one. There's much of it that you could almost watch out of order and come away with the same general impressions. (I had seen it prior a few times, but mostly piecemeal.) There is a story, or rather a collection of interwoven short stories, but it's better thought of as just what it is--an impression of what it was like to live at a certain age in a certain time and place. I'm glad somebody cared enough to make a movie about it, especially one this sincere and lavishly built.

Most movies, even great ones, are pretty much about their own plot. American Graffiti escapes that.

One of my Mum's favourites.

She made me watch it with her when I was about 12. I didn't get it then, but would revisit it now.

_________________... because I'm a wild animal

Mon Apr 15, 2013 6:03 am

Blonde Almond

Cinematographer

Joined: Sun Oct 07, 2012 2:41 pmPosts: 507Location: The Desert

Re: Last Movie You Watched

To The Wonder - The new film from Terrence Malick opens in an unconventional way, with shaky cell-phone footage of a couple recording each other as they travel through Europe. It's something of a fake-out of course, and it's not long before the film returns to the type of visual grandness you usually associate with the director of Days of Heaven and The Thin Red Line, but it's a nice early indicator that Malick is perhaps operating on a smaller, more personal level than his more recent work, including his last entry The Tree Of Life. That was a film that, among other things, attempted to tie together a family tragedy with God and the creation/evolution of the universe and of life, and while it worked on a deep level for many viewers, it never did for me. To The Wonder at times feels like a direct stylistic continuation of The Tree Of Life, featuring many of Malick's trademarks that have at this point become almost clichéd. There's the near-constant use of voiceover, the stately Steadicam shots, the unconventional editing that gives off the impression of someone recalling snapshots of distant memories rather than attempting to assemble any kind of strong narrative progression.

His approach can inspire both awe and exasperation, sometimes within the same film and in the span of a few minutes, and that is still the case here. Certainly by the end of the film you'll have seen more than enough of people wandering aimlessly through fields of grass. But in part because the film is more grounded in nature, I found it to be a more effective piece of work than The Tree Of Life. The film spends most of its time chronicling the good and bad times in a relationship between characters played by Ben Affleck and Olga Kurylenko. The spiritual component is kept mostly to the side, relegated to a tangential subplot with Javier Bardem as a priest, who questions the silence of God as he tours through areas of poverty and depression. Eventually these separate threads tie together in a subtle way. Unlike The Tree Of Life, which presented a vision of the afterlife and had moments where characters exhibited divine qualities, any spiritual presence in this film is kept within the realms of reality, and for me that's a good thing. If there is a God somewhere watching over us, that is all He's doing. We're left to our own devices down here, to continue on in our flawed kind of way, and left to wonder by ourselves about the big questions. That's more of a sentiment I can understand and get behind. 7/10.

42 - At this point every year, professional baseball honors Jackie Robinson, the first person to break the color barrier in the sport, when he played for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947. That type of story is perfect for a film, and yet there haven't been many attempts over the years to get that story onto the screen (maybe after The Jackie Robinson Story, where Robinson played himself, came out, another film seemed superfluous). Now there is this new film about Robinson and the adversity he had to face to play ball in the majors, directed by Brian Helgeland, who's known more as a writer (particularly for L.A. Confidential, another film where the issue of racism plays a large role). Unfortunately, 42 as a film is not in the same league as that '90s classic; everything proceeds much in the way you'd expect things to proceed, with little in the way of surprises.

That's not necessarily an entirely bad thing, but the film is hurt by some production choices. An overbearing score plays over everything in the first half, giving the oftentimes awkwardly-scripted film a heavy feeling even in scenes of more inconsequential material. Harrison Ford, as Dodgers owner Branch Rickey, stands out a little too much; he's not the most comfortable in this kind of role, although he does have a few redeeming moments in the later stages of the film. As Robinson, Chadwick Boseman is effective, showing both his determination and, in one crucial moment, his doubts and fears about his inability to keep going. The film is actually the most interesting though when showing the changing attitudes of the white people around him, as they come to accept that attitudes are changing and that they need to revise their stances. One area where the film does deserve a lot of credit is for not censoring the vitriol that was undoubtedly directed towards Robinson at the time. When Alan Tudyk, normally a warm and relatable screen presence, briefly comes onscreen as Phillies manager Ben Chapman to launch a long tirade of racial epithets at Robinson, it has a real impact, with the use of language hitting home harder than any point in Django Unchained. It's a real standout moment, and it's somewhat of a shame that the rest of the film doesn't quite hit on that same level. 42 ends up being a fairly unremarkable film about a remarkable person, but it at least is a solid reminder of why his uniform number is retired across baseball. 5/10.

Kiss Of The Spider Woman - Director Hector Babenco starts his 1985 film off on the right foot, in a deceptively simple opening shot that sets up everything that will follow. It's a slow panoramic shot, moving around a South American prison cell and gradually introducing the two central characters that share the small space. These characters are Luis Molina (William Hurt, who won a deserved Academy Award for his performance) and Valentin Arregui (Raul Julia, equally impressive). The two of them have both been imprisoned, Valentin for his actions with a revolutionary group, Molina for his sexual relationship with a young boy. The rest of the film will detail the evolution of their relationship, from initial discontent to admiration and love. While an entire film set within the confines of the cell sounds like a somewhat tough ordeal, the filmmakers find a clever way to combat this. To distract themselves from the nature of their situation, Molina recounts to Arregui the story of one of his favorite films, a romance/thriller which Arregui is quick to point out is actually a Nazi propaganda film. As Molina narrates, the film moves outside of the cell to visually enact the story. At first, you wonder what the true purpose of this diversion is. It's not until about halfway through the film that another layer is added to the relationship between Molina and Arregui, giving new meaning to past events, while also providing the realization that the relationship in the story between a Nazi officer and a singer working covertly for the resistance mirrors the relationship in the real world.

Every once in awhile you'll stumble upon a film that employs familiar elements and creates something that is unlike anything you've quite seen before, and this is one of those films. Both the direction and the script are excellent, balancing out both serious and playful moments with ease. The two main performances hit all the right notes too, with Julia effectively conveying the transition in his character's feelings and Hurt taking on a role that you'd never expect from him and nailing it. And for a film almost thirty years old, it is surprisingly forthright yet sensitive about the relationship at its center. If I were to make one criticism, it's that the script separates Molina and Arregui for its final half hour, and the material in this section is never quite as compelling as when the two of them share the screen together. Still, the film finishes just as strongly as it opens, with an uncompromising end and an escape into fantasy. This gets a high recommendation from me. 9/10.

_________________"The only true currency in this bankrupt world is what you share with someone else when you're uncool."Letterboxd Profile

Tue Apr 16, 2013 12:49 am

MGamesCook

Director

Joined: Thu Oct 11, 2012 7:44 pmPosts: 1806

Re: Last Movie You Watched

Quote:

particularly for L.A. Confidential, another film where the issue of racism plays a large role

I'll never understand the love for LA Confidential. I personally find it unwatchable. Most of the actors deliver the weakest performances of their careers, and Curtis Hanson, who hasn't directed one other movie his entire career that anyone talks about, doesn't do much except make the production look splashy. The direction of the final shootout is remarkably poor. A lot of the dialogue is poor. I think Helgeland shows a marked improvement from that movie to Mystic River and then to 42.

Tue Apr 16, 2013 4:46 am

Thief12

Assistant Director

Joined: Sat Dec 15, 2012 9:35 pmPosts: 809Location: Puerto Rico

Re: Last Movie You Watched

MGamesCook wrote:

Quote:

particularly for L.A. Confidential, another film where the issue of racism plays a large role

I'll never understand the love for LA Confidential. I personally find it unwatchable. Most of the actors deliver the weakest performances of their careers, and Curtis Hanson, who hasn't directed one other movie his entire career that anyone talks about, doesn't do much except make the production look splashy. The direction of the final shootout is remarkably poor. A lot of the dialogue is poor. I think Helgeland shows a marked improvement from that movie to Mystic River and then to 42.

No, seriously, I love the film. If anything, I would fault it for its ending, or Kim Basinger's performance which, ironically, is the weakest of all, IMO. But other than that, I think it's pretty much flawless. Surprised to see you feel that way.

Sean Connery's third outing as Bond is a classic. Here we find James playing cat and mouse with the mysterious Auric Goldfinger who has a penchant for all that is gold. It is unfair to compare this movie to the recent Daniel Craig adventures since the productions are 5 decades apart and movie going sensibilities have changed much in that time (suffice to say what passed for edge of your seat excitement and adventure in the 60's is pretty tame by today's standards). As far as the plot goes, it's pretty good with a nice twist on the heist aspect, but if there's one thing that disturbs me, it's that the ending resolution treads too close to deus ex machine territory for my tastes.

I mean, really. Pussy has an off screen 11th hours change of heart after months of planning due to a daliance with Bond and calls up the authorities? And then the feds are going to "play dead" and let Goldfinger's men go so far as to blow the gates off of Fort Knox instead of busting them on the highway? I know, I know...it's Bond so it's supposed to be kinda playful, but come on!

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